Beverly and Flatbush shooting

13 yo kid shot in the face at noon - broad daylight and a busy space. I taught this kid in second grade -- he was a really good, sweet kid. Breaks my heart, glad he is stable at Kings county.

The SOS program in crown heights is often discussed here. Does East Flatbush/Flatbush have something similar? Something working? Councilman Eugene is not very useful in the Flatbush neighborhood - but I really like Jumaane Williams in east Flatbush. This was his constituent who was shot, but he was over in Eugene's neighborhood when the shooting occurred. I wish they worked together to get things done. Anyone know of programs in the neighborhood making a difference?

As a result of this role, he has been able to secure funding for his district, which is one of the more violent in the city. The funding is used to support "Not In My Hood", a series of events that target at risk youth.

Unfortunately, the effort lacks the street outreach workers utilized by efforts built on the Cure Violence model (such as SOS Crown Heights).

From my understanding, Mr. Williams would love such a program in his district, but the non-profits in his area have not been able to secure the necessary funding. In addition to city funds, Crown Heights was able to secure Federal and State funding. This is in large part because the Crown Heights Community Mediation Center had the backing of a strong, parent organization, the Center For Court Innovation (CCI).

I agree about what East Flatbush could do to help itself out...working there for so long, I started many after-school programs for kids because there just were NONE. Nothing to keep kids off the streets, nothing to keep them away from drug-pushing and crime, nothing. Kids became more and more disengaged from schools and then dropped out. Parents saw schools as places to babysit - not places to educate, motivate, and lead them to better jobs/homes/lives.

I started 4 after-school programs while there and 3 are still going strong since I left. There need to be a LOT more. And for middle-school and high-school too. Too many angry, disengaged youth who then remain angry and disengaged adults. As much as I hate Geoffrey Canada, his Beacon program was something that would help areas like this. Of course, they have little funding or respect in the communities. We need to do more in areas like this.

As you are aware, Beacon after school programs are often run by nonprofits which utilize space in public schools.

As a result of this, neighborhoods like the Lower East Side have a ton of after school programs in large part because it has a ton of settlement houses left over from when the LES was far more poor than it is now (ie European immigration). Most of the nonprofits now employ talented grant writers, and have some alumni that remember them fondly in their wills.

Meanwhile, E Flatbush has very few nonprofits. It became poor relatively recently (1960s?). The alumni of its nonprofits are not as financially successful, and the nonprofits are not able to attract and retain grant writers and development staff of the same caliber as agencies with endowments, and cache.

I take the perspective that guns are (and always will be) available to anyone who wants one. As a result, I tend to be attracted to programs that work directly with youth who have the least respect for life, and the least to live for themselves.

Youth that have very fragile connections to anyone:

-Kids who grew up in foster care.

-Kids who grew up with an addicted mother, and bounced from one relative to the next.

-Kids in Special Education, who have not experienced academic or social success/achievement.

If you have been watching the news coverage of events in Ferguson, MO, you will likely see members of the Peacekeepers trying to the keep the protesters and police apart. While not a large organization, they seem to have members across the country.

Jumaane Williams policies are not working. After school activities do not provide living wage jobs. As long as we live under the current economic system the only way to mitigate gun violence is STOP and FRISK. After Jumaane Williams helped put an end to it shooting shot up in his hood. You just got to take the shooters off the streets and feel sorry for those caught in the crossfire.